Excerpts from the United Launch Alliance NROL-52 post-launch press release:

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., (Oct. 15, 2017) – A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 on Oct. 15 at 3:28 a.m. EDT. Designated NROL-52, the mission is in support of national security.

This mission was launched aboard an Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) 421 configuration vehicle, which includes a 4-meter payload fairing (PLF) and two solid rocket boosters. The Atlas booster for this mission was powered by the RD AMROSS RD-180 engine, and the Centaur upper stage was powered by the Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C-1 engine.

This is ULA’s 7th launch in 2017 and the 122nd successful launch since the company was formed in December 2006.

A time exposure of the NROL-52 launch looking northward into a star-filled sky over the Indian River Lagoon as seen from the Barber Bridge in Vero Beach, Florida.